Do you need a ressurection?

Today is Saturday. The day in the middle of Good Friday and Easter. Jesus died on the cross…and there was an in-between space, a meantime….when his followers grieved without the certainty of the resurrection. But God knew. He would be resurrected to fulfill the plan. He would go to the cross so that we might be resurrected too. Because of His death we are given grace to live above our circumstances by living under His Promise of Faithfulness rather than under the Pain of our Problems. It’s personal.

Jesus did not sacrifice his life to make bad people good or even a little better. He went to the cross and died to bring spiritually dead people to life. This is the Easter message in simple form. Over 2000 years later the Easter story as related in the gospels continues to be told. Rather than the 15 minutes of fame that we are familiar with today, this story is the drama of history repeated, reenacted and re-lived every year since.

There were no reporters, no magazine covers with the picture of Jesus on the cross. But there was a woman who said with pure conviction ” I have seen the Lord!” It was personal. Some assumed she was hysterical, but quickly others could confirm her story. Different versions surfaced and Mary Magdalene’s story could not be suppressed because it was true. It was God’s story to save mankind from the dead lives of religious lists and duties, freeing them to know a personal relationship with a living God. It was God’s timing; it was the turn of history.

Easter is Personal

We have been invited to share in His resurrection through spiritual re-birth. Jesus Himself has invited us to be adopted as sons and daughters. As his children, he did not leave us as orphans but left an inheritance for us to claim in our lives today. To know God as our “Abba Father”, is to cease believing he is some fickle God that is out to bless us or get us based on our performance. He has used His power to taste and overcome death on our behalf. He left a last will and testament in which he named us as family members. By this will he brought us into His family, through His lavish love. To those who are His heirs he is now a Papa in whose house we can be sure we belong and are loved.

As God’s heirs we are loved and accepted, forgiven, redeemed, washed, sanctified, justified, blessed with every spiritual blessing, chosen, adopted. We are His workmanship, fellow citizens of His kingdom and fellow partakers with Jesus of His promises. We are a fragrant aroma to Him, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, holy brethren, His very own people. In Him we have been made complete. ( see Colossians 2:10)

He has so much more for you than a “divine to-do” list. God has given us a divine gift and resource list through Jesus Christ. God’s will provides us with the resources we need to live the lives, have the families, raise the children, do the ministry, that would “speak well of” Him. It is personal.

This Easter season the world again contemplates the sacrifice of Jesus. And as we attend another service in the local church on Easter morning, may the good news not just be old news, but may the truth that he lives be personal. May we all grow closer to the Savior and declare in our own personal stories ” I have seen the Lord!”  May this Easter by your personal resurrection into a relationship of Trusting God. May it be the point in your history where you know you have laid your “stuff” at the foot of the cross, believing that Jesus died for every last detail of it. Easter is not for the masses, He died for you…It’s personal.

Many blessings as you celebrate,

Debbie

If you are not a Christian and would like to become one, let today be your day. It is not joining a club or following rules. It is coming to God and asking Him to take your life and make it what He intended it to be. It is receiving the gift of Jesus Christ, by faith. If you have never prayed, it’s simply talking to God. Ask Him to forgive your sins, help your unbelief, and take your life and graft it into His own. It’s Personal.

“To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12-13